Constitutional Reform and Human Rights: Unfinished Business?

Abstract

This article is a revised and updated text of the W A Wilson Memorial Lecture delivered at the University of Edinburgh on 2 May 2000. It considers some of the issues posed by the extensive constitutional changes which have occurred since the general election in 1997. In particular, arguments are made in favour of elevating social rights to the status of constitutional rights. These arguments are set against the reluctance of successive governments to embrace international human rights instruments, and to meet commitments to which they have subscribed. The article then focuses upon the legal methods by which the elevated constitutional status of social rights can be secured, first a domestic initiative based on the Human Rights Act 1998, and second an initiative of the EUfor a comprehensive European Bill of Rights.